Sunday, September 28, 2014

Writing and Grammar

Forgive me, I'm a little behind.

I loved that Chapter 3 first made the case for writing before stressing the importance of grammar.  Even when you're only writing 140 characters on Twitter, the posts that use bad grammar drive me crazy, and it's even more offensive when those posts are coming from legitimate businesses.  If you want me to take you seriously, use correct grammar.  Otherwise, I will write you off as incompetent.

The excuses that "When Words Collide" makes for using incorrect grammar made me laugh.  "I never learned grammar in school."  What school is this person going to, and where do I sign up?  Just kidding, obviously, since I'm in the class.  Sometimes, when I'm editing a friend or family member's papers, though, I wonder if they went to this grammar-less school.  It's horrifying.

My mistake for the week was brought to my attention by my father-in-law.  He is a manager at Wal-Mart, and a customer pointed out that a product they carry has a horrid misspelling on the packaging.


I honestly had to reread the package a couple of times because I was reading the incorrect spelling rather than "Destroy" like the company meant.  I died a little inside that day.  For the love of the grammar gods, proof your work, especially when it will print thousands of times!

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